Gornal News & Goings On

NEWS

MP welcomes police recruitment figures Dudley North MP Ross Cranston has welcomed the recent announcement of record police numbers in England and Wales by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett. Numbers have risen in the West Midlands to over 7,800 officers, leading Mr. Cranston to comment: “This announcement is excellent news and shows that the Government has already exceeded its 2004 target for police recruitment. “In the past, our region has lost officers to other regions but this year 792 new officers joined while only 523 left – a net gain of 169 officers. I will be calling on the Chief Constable to make sure that Dudley North OCU receives its fair share of this increase. “Another piece of good news is that the number of special constables is once again rising in the West Midlands. Nationally, there was a slight fall in the number of specials but in the West Midlands there was an increase of 64, just over 10%, to give a total of 637.” “I hope that police reforms to cut bureaucracy will ensure that the new officers spend the overwhelming majority of their time out of the station engaged in front line policing. We will only deter criminals and make people feel safer by increasing the visibility, availability and accessibility of our police officers in the community. “I also hope that new officers can work in conjunction with the Community Support Officers (click here) who have recently started work in Dudley, in order to combat the nuisance of anti – social behaviour.”

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